Meet our CEO
A visionary entrepreneur, Valérie Taupin created Teoxane Laboratories in 2003 by anticipating the needs of an emerging market, through innovative research and development; and by instilling new codes, combining science, luxury and beauty, into an industry that until then was modelled on a traditional pharmaceutical codes.
Today, as the company celebrates its 20th anniversary, holds a leading position in the global market for hyaluronic acid-based wrinkle fillers, and employs more than 500 people in 90 countries, the three key values of its culture of innovation, excellence and independence continue to set Teoxane apart and guide its ambitions.
After a scientific baccalaureate and business school in France, Valérie Taupin began her professional career in Cologne, Germany, with a company that manufactured tailored clothing for burn victims and post-operative liposuction patients. It took this young graduate quite some courage, hard work and determination; not counting the hours poring over telephone directories and identify potential customers to cold-call and gradually build the business – without at first speaking the language of Goethe. Working in Germany taught her rigor, effort and respect for the given word.
In the early 1990s, Valérie Taupin made a decisive encounter: a chief plastic surgeon who had just discovered a compound to fill in wrinkles suggested that she turn it into a business. At the time, the market was in its infancy; very few aesthetic and cosmetic doctors did injections. “I had to develop and democratize a virtually non-existent market. It wasn’t easy, but it launched my career in the industry.”
To push innovation, to integrate creativity, to avoid falling into the rut of preconceived ideas; to not repeat, to refuse to take the path of least resistance, and instead to invent, to think in a different way while placing quality at the heart of the process – in 1993, at only 26, Valérie Taupin struck out on her own, distributing wrinkle-filling products. Based in France, she also exported to Germany, leveraging her deep knowledge of the market and the extensive network she had built and nurtured there. Quite rapidly, she gained significant market share.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TEOXANE SA
Thanks to innovation, our products were very compelling to doctors, and ours was a new approach.
Switzerland, where the production and administration departments are still located today – the independent company now had all the means to take up the entrepreneurial challenges associated with creativity, innovation and the constant quest for optimum quality. The first two years were focused on cultivating a pragmatic spirit that favors efficiency and agility, and on mobilizing the teams to achieve ambitious goals. It was an exciting time, terrifying too; a race against the clock. On one hand, there were substantial investments and expenses, and on the other, together with experts and her newly recruited team, the drive to develop new formulas, set up manufacturing for the products, and at the same time secure the certifications and registrations necessary to bring them to market.
In this emerging but already highly competitive industry, the international network she had built up during her early years came through: from the outset, Valérie Taupin was able to close distribution contracts with numerous countries to market Teoxane products.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TEOXANE SA
In the beginning, our manufacturing capacity was limited, and meeting demand was a challenge. Scaling up production soon became a priority.
This intense group effort resulted in the company launching its first two formulations, which became immediate successes. In 2006, the market for volumizers was just beginning to take shape. Where competitors offered thick, viscous products requiring cannula injection methods, which in turn left marks, Teoxane stood out by developing TEOSYAL® ULTRA DEEP1 the first volumizing* gel that could be injected with a much finer needle, without leaving marks on the face. TEOSYAL KISS®2, designed to increase lip volume, was also launched then. “With these innovative, high-performance products that better address various requirements and can be applied non-invasively by doctors, our sales really took off and soon established Teoxane's reputation. Our TEOSYAL® ULTRA DEEP1 volumizer is still a best-seller today*." Valérie Taupin
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TEOXANE SA
Teoxane’s relentless focus on cross-linking hyaluronic acid to obtain gels with rheological properties ever-better adapted to the different dynamic areas and expressions of the face – again – placed the company at the forefront of filling solutions for certain finer areas, such as dark circles. In use for 10 years now, with a proven clinical track record and already millions of injections performed, Teosyal® PureSense Redensity 23 is still the #1 selling product* and has since become a major international reference. The original formula, reputed for its good results4 and safety profile4, remains unchanged. These are products that have truly revolutionized the industry.
However, where Valérie Taupin also stood out was, from the very start, in breaking with the traditional codes of the medical industry – and in being the first to emphasize a brand image that internalizes the dimensions of luxury, beauty and femininity in the marketing of its products intended for doctors, with the faces of fresh, elegant and vibrant young girls. Moreover, with the exponential rise in the number of doctors who started injecting Teoxane products, Valérie Taupin realized the importance of training, and created the Teoxane Academy. Led by expert doctors at the headquarters in the rue de Lyon in Geneva, through its digital platform but also on-site in countries where the products are distributed, the Teoxane Academy now trains and supports more than 20,000 doctors per year in high-precision injection techniques.
Today, Teoxane Laboratories exports more than 20,000 syringes throughout the world every day, manufactures 25 different formulations, owns 16 major patents, and markets a range of dermocosmetics also based on hyaluronic acid intended for the general public. And Valérie Taupin remains as ever deeply faithful to the founding values of her company: innovation, excellence and independence.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TEOXANE SA
It is on these foundations that I have built the culture of the company. In today's world, beauty is no longer a question of age. Creating, exploring, observing, surprising, I am proud and delighted to be developing a company that continues to offer its customers anti-aging solutions that are at the forefront of scientific research, and always more effective, safer and more sophisticated.